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Married to the military

Lori Ballard and son Austin at home in Ft. Bragg, N.C. Her husband has missed nearly a year of their boy's life while away on duty.

Lori Ballard and son Austin at home in Ft. Bragg, N.C. Her husband has missed nearly a year of their boy’s life while away on duty.

  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

For 18 years – since she was 19 and “straight out of [her] Mom’s house” – Lori Ballard has been an Army wife. Her husband, 1st Sgt. Craig Ballard, was already in the Army when they married.

Married to the military

Emily Ballard plays word games with her brother as their mother talks to their father, 1st Sgt. Craig Ballard, then away in Qatar. Emily attended five schools in six years before her mother started home-schooling her.

  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Married to the military

Lori Ballard home-schools her two children, Emily and Austin, at their Ft. Bragg home. The family has since moved to Virginia, where her husband is an ROTC instructor.

  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Married to the military

Austin Ballard pretends to shoot his stick gun outside the family home at Ft. Bragg.

  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Married to the military

The whole Ballard family – Emily, Lori and Austin, with 1st Sgt. Craig Ballard on the phone, live from Qatar via Skype. They’re now all together in Lexington, Va.

  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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